


Everybody's Lonely

by Oh_Contrary



Series: Tumblr Prompts a la Voltron [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuddle Puddles, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Homesickness, Hunk is best boy, Hurt/Comfort, Keith is bad at emotions, Langst, Loneliness, but ain't we all?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 07:38:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15114785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oh_Contrary/pseuds/Oh_Contrary
Summary: The castle finds our favorite blue paladin feeling lonely, but with everyone busy preparing for a mission, he has nowhere to turn. Luckily, he has friends willing to lend an ear (and a shoulder).





	Everybody's Lonely

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from a nonny on my [tumblr](https://profoundprincessface.tumblr.com/)
> 
> _lance is really lonely but he decides not to try to hang out with anyone because they’re all really busy doing universe saving stuff and then one of the other paladins comes into his room to check on him and they find him either crying or having cried himself to sleep and then they all have like a huge cuddle puddle or something?_
> 
> Thanks for the prompt nonny! Can't wait to see what you come up with next!
> 
> xoxo  
> ~Tay

At first it didn’t seem like much. They’d been so busy the past few days with coalition activities and planning a rescue mission two galaxies over, that it seemed almost normal how separated they’d all become. It was a big castle after all. But by the third day in a row of only seeing each other at meals (and those being tired affairs of shovelling down food just to get back to work), Lance realized that he missed just spending time with the others. As dinner that night came to a close, he proposed a movie night. 

 

“It’s just been a while since we took some time to relax together,” he offered, looking into his food with a shrug. 

 

“Oh, we’d love to Lance, but I think we’ve all still got stuff to work on.” Shiro offered weakly. “I know that Keith and I are training after dinner, and I’m sure the others have things to finish up too. Maybe another night.”

 

After dinner, Lance wandered around the castle. He’d already finished sorting the data  Pidge had asked him to organize and, other than checking over his gear for the mission in two days, didn’t have anything else to do. He made it to the bridge, stopping in to check on Allura, maybe convince her to take a break, but she and Lotor were firmly lodged in logistical planning and, though Allura asked him to leave gently enough, Lotor’s poorly hidden sneer spoke volumes. 

 

That was fine. He could go see what the others were up to. But, as he made his way around the castle, it seemed that everyone was busy. Pidge and Hunk were up to their elbows in grease working on the lions; Shiro and Keith were sparring in the training room; and even Coran, who always seemed able to make time for Lance, was busily sorting Alfor’s old files in one of the unused studies. Lance had offered to help but, since all the documents were in Altean and he was still having trouble reading the language, he only managed to slow Coran down and eventually the old man had to ask Lance to step away.

 

He stood in the hall for a brief moment, wondering how to make himself useful-- but that wasn’t really the problem. It wasn’t that Lance felt useless or unhelpful. He’d done what he’d been assigned and, while he wasn’t able to help his friends with their tasks, that wasn’t ultimately his job. He was more than what he could do for others, especially when they hadn’t asked. 

 

No, it wasn’t that he felt useless. He was just lonely. It was a big castle and they were far from home. He wondered briefly if he should go back to Hunk. Surely if he asked, the other boy could make time? But he shook his head. With a mission only two days away, Hunk and Pidge needed all the time they could get running repairs. Instead, he retired to his room. It was still early, but in a war like this you took every chance for rest you could get.

 

He trudged to his room and stripped down to his boxers, only managing to pull on an altean sleep shirt before throwing himself down on the bed. He fit an arm over his eyes, hating the sting behind his pupils that meant tears were on their way. It was stupid of him really. He could just ask for company. But when they had so many important things to do, it felt stupid if not selfish to monopolize his friends’ time. Instead, he took a deep breath, trying and failing to pull it together, and burrowed himself under the covers. 

 

Across the castle, Keith and Shiro emerged from the training room and made their way to the kitchens for more water, only to run into their other teammates gathered around the kitchen counter.

 

“What’s going on guys?” Keith asked, rubbing a towel over his hair, still wet from the shower. 

 

“Well, the navigation system is calculating various routes to and from Garcella, and no longer needs us to watch it,” Allura said, “so Lotor has retired for the evening and I came down here and found those two.” She gestured to Hunk and Pidge who were both standing by the sink, using rags and water to wipe the engine oil from their skin. 

 

“The yellow lion is done for the night, and we don’t want to start on Blue until the morning,” Hunk said, “So we were gonna wash up and see if Lance wanted to have that movie night he mentioned, but we haven’t actually seen him the past hour or so.”

 

“He might be in bed? Or with Coran?” Pidge offered, reaching up to wipe a smear of grease off Hunk’s forehead. “We should go find him. It might be nice to go ahead and do that movie night he mentioned, since we’re all suddenly free.”

 

“Keith, why don’t you run and find Lance,” Shiro said, “Hunk and Pidge can finish washing up while Allura and I set up the common room for movie night.” Keith looked over at shiro to confirm-- he wasn’t usually the first choice for anything involving the blue paladin-- but Shiro just smiled and shook his head towards the door.

 

When Keith got to the study where Coran was, Lance was nowhere to be found. 

 

“Why, he left not half a varga ago. Perhaps he’s in his room?” Coran offered, turning back to his papers.

 

“Thanks Coran,” Keith said, heading towards the door. He stopped, turning back to the man in the study. “Once we find him, we’re gonna have a movie night if you feel like coming down.” Keith offered.

 

Coran looked up at Keith, looking him over once before a grin formed beneath his moustache. “Of course my boy,” he said gently. “I’ll meet you lot in the common room once I finish up here.”

 

Keith nodded, returning Coran’s smile briefly before excusing himself. He made it upstairs to the bedroom and had raised a hand to knock on Lance’s door, when the sound of sobbing reached his ears. He stopped, drawing back immediately at the prospect of walking in on Lance when he was obviously upset. But wasn’t it his role as a teammate? He raised his hand to knock again, but couldn’t. He slowly turned away, heading back towards the common room.

 

When he got there, Hunk and Shiro were on the couch calling out suggestions to Allura and Pidge, who were setting up the projector. Keith walked up behind Hunk on the couch.

 

“Oh, hey buddy. Where’s Lan--” Hunk started, cutting off as Keith leaned down to whisper in his ear. Hunk went very still. “So let me get this straight,” he said quietly, looking back at Keith. “You heard Lance crying in his room and just  _ left _ him there?”

 

“I didn’t know what to do!” Keith said, hands flailing.

 

“At least go check on him!” 

 

“We all know I’m not Lance’s favorite. I figure he wouldn’t want me to… look, if Lance is choosing people to open up to, I’m not on that list.”

 

Yeah and this and why,” Hunk said as he stood. “We’ll be back, he called to the room, taking keith by the shoulder and dragging him out the door. 

 

When they got to Lance’s room, Hunk shoved Keith forwards. “Well?” he said, gesturing to the door. 

 

“Hunk, even you have to be able to hear him.” Keith hissed, trying to keep his voice low.

 

“Yeah, which is exactly why i need you to knock on the damn door.”

 

“He won’t want to see me,” Keith said, only to have Hunk reach right past him and knock. They both fell silent, waiting to hear a response, only none came. They both crowded by the door. The room had gone silent.

 

“Lance?” Hunk called through the door. “We just wanted to check on you.”

 

“Don’t-- don’t come in.” Lance offered weakly.

 

“I don’t know if i can do that bud,” Hunk said. “You sound pretty upset in there.”

 

Lance said nothing, simply sniffling on the other side of the door. Hunk elbowed Keith in the side.

 

“We, uh. We just wanna make sure you’re okay Lance.” he offered weakly, looking to Hunk to make sure what he’d said was okay. Hunk only rolled his eyes.

 

“We’re coming in, Lance.” Hunk said, pressing his hand to the panel on the wall. 

 

The door slid open to reveal the darkened room, still save for the blue paladin’s shuddering breaths. Keith and Hunk entered slowly, neither of them wanting to disturb the somber stillness of the room.

 

“Lance?” Keith called warily. 

 

“I’m here,” he responded pitifully as the lump of blankets on the bed moved.

 

“Oh, Lance,” Hunk sighed, moving quickly to the bed as the other boy sat up, face flushed from crying and eyes still red and wet. “What’s wrong buddy?”

“Nothing, nothing…” Lance said, looking across the room at Keith and then back towards Hunk. 

 

“It doesn’t sound like nothing,” Keith said quietly. 

 

“Well it is, so you can just drop it, okay?” Lance snapped, turning away from both of them. 

 

“Keith’s right,” Hunk said, laying a hand on his shoulder. “It isn’t nothing. We want to be there for you.”

 

Keith came and sat on the bed too. “Is it the mission? Or did one of us say something?”

 

“No, no,” Lance said quickly. “It’s none of y’all’s fault. It’s just...” he sighed, finally leaning back into Hunk, who quickly wrapped his arms around the other paladin boy, pulling him against him. “I get homesick and… and home was so loud and Cuba was so warm and the castle is just huge and cold and--”

 

“And you get lonely.” Keith said from the other side of the bed. Lance and Hunk both looked up at him. “Yeah, I get it,” he said crawling up the bed to lay with them. He settled beside Lance against Hunk’s chest and Hunk threw an arm around him too. “For me it’s the difference between when I’m here and when I’m with the Blade. With the Blade, there’s so many of us and we’re always working together. It’s like what I imagine a house with a big family would be like. And then here-- it’s not that we’re not a type of family, but it’s easy for us to get caught up in the mission and in our separate tasks. In such a big castle, we’d go days without seeing each other if it weren’t for meals. And that’s not enough.”

 

There was a long quiet moment, broken only by a small chuckle from Lance.

 

“You’re hiding a lotta feelings in there, aren’t ya Kogane.” Lance said, looking over at the other boy with a smirk. It seemed out of place with his tear streaked cheeks, but Keith would take any smile he could get. He poked Lance in the side, startling a yelp from him. 

 

“Don’t you forget it either.” Keith teased. With that they all lapsed into silence, laying together on the bed. All too soon, warm and cozy, they fell asleep.

 

By the time the others came to check on them, it was all too easy for Pidge, much to Shiro’s chagrin, to take blackmail photos.

 

“They’ll thank me for them later,” she said, looking down at the shot of Hunk, Keith, and LAnce all spooned together.

**Author's Note:**

> Drop a comment to let me know how i did!
> 
> Have a prompt you wanna see? message me on [tumblr](https://profoundprincessface.tumblr.com/)!


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